Barclays Bank

Barclays in Bangor is a pretty good branch to deal with. We’re not talking about a sprawling metropolis here, so the services they offer are decent enough in that context.

There is a specialised student finance advisor on hand, and a couple of private office for customers to talk to financial advisors discreetly, and a couple of desks in the open plan main room to talk about day to day stuff with an advisor.

Most of the established staff are good at what they do. Usually you need to book an appointment, which can be a pain, but when you turn up for the appointment the process of going through any issues is dealt with by competent staff in a smooth manner.

I’ve never experienced any “hard sell” tactics, but this may be due to the fact that it’s pretty obvious that I’m financially aware and wouldn’t fall for it. I like to think it’s because they’re not used car salesmen in dusguise though.

There has been one instance where cash wasn’t paid into my account properly by what seemed to be a newish member of staff. Luckily I kept the receipt and the issue was resolved relatively quickly by a more senior member of staff. I’m unsure whether or not the error was a genuine mistake by a new junior member of staff, or if he was on the take. Either way, I won’t let this one inept staff member colour my judgement of the branch. I haven’t seen him there again, and this is the only problem I’ve had in over ten years of dealings with the branch.

The staff are courteous, and do their job well. I never dread visiting the branch!